Just yesterday, the dreaded July 18 deadline ends when Microsoft and Activision gave each other the deadline to seal the deal. A lot has happened since then and the reasons for not arriving in time come from neither side, but from the regulators, who have delayed the process to this point.
The biggest problem with this is that there was a clause that Microsoft had to pay 3 billion dollars (a real barbarism), if it was not finished by then, to protect itself from possible problems. However, in this year and a half since the official announcement, there has been no disagreement between the parties, so due to the remaining negotiations with the CMA, they have simply renewed the agreement, giving a new date, until October 18.
Update on Activision Blizzard’s merger with Microsoft: agreement deadline extended
The recent decision in the United States and approvals in 40 countries all confirm that the deal is good for competition, players and the future of gaming.
Given global regulatory approvals and the…
— Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey) July 19, 2023
Microsoft and Activision calmly give each other a new deadline
It was to be expected that once an agreement was reached with the CMA to deal with the question outside the Court of Appeal (CAT), that Microsoft would not try to rush a closing of the purchase, so once the date limit arrived yesterday and nothing was announced about it, it was almost supposed to be a friendly extension of it, but we had no idea it would be released.
Finally, it was like this and although it was not very official, it was revealed by the famous CCO of Activision, known for his tweets against Sony or the various regulators, Lulu Cheng. This new date also does not prevent the closing from taking place earlier, so it is now only a matter of time before the whole process is completed satisfactorily.
